Pantethine is a useful medicament for: (a) prevention and treatment of a pantothenic acid deficiency; (b) replenishment of pantothenic acid to patients suffering from wasting diseases or hyperthyroidism, or to pregnant and parturient women or breast-feeding women who have an increased demand for pantothenic acid that cannot be supplied sufficiently from foods; and (c) prevention and treatment of hyperlipidemia, atonic constipation, and side effects of streptomycin and kanamycin, improvement of acute and chronic eczema, and improvement in platelet counts and hemorrhagic tendency in blood dyscrasia, when these diseases, disorders or symptoms are presumed to be attributable to a deficiency or a metabolic disorder of pantothenic acid.
Although pantethine exists as an amorphous powder at room temperature, it is supplied as a viscous liquid in the market because it cannot maintain the powdery state due to its high hygroscopicity, and The Pharmacopoeia of Japan prescribes the pantethine as 80% aqueous pantethine solution. When manufacturing a medicament in the form of a solid dosage form, it is generally desirable to supply the medicament in a powdery state and various studies have so far been done to develop a technique to powder or solidify pantethine. For example, methods known for turning liquid pantethine into powder include a method disclosed in JP-A-S50-88215 comprising freeze-drying pantethine in the presence of a small quantity of an amino acid or a saccharide having a high eutectic point such as glycine, α-alanine, lactose, mannite, or dextran, or another method disclosed in JP-A-S55-38344 comprising freezing an aqueous pantethine solution, and crushing the resultant congelation, followed by drying.
Further, in order to provide pantethine as soliddosage forms, a number of attempts have been made including encapsulation of pantethine, or mixing pantethine with a large quantity of starches or similar ingredients to obtain a pantethine-containing powder mixture.